Katie Adams is a senior reporter for MedCity News covering providers and healthcare technology. Previously, she worked as a healthcare technology editor at Becker’s Hospital Review. Her journalism degree is from DePaul University in Chicago, where she is still based.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-adams-450775141/
Ardent Health is deploying virtual nurse technology to ease workflow burdens on bedside nurses by offloading routine tasks — and its nurse turnover rate has dropped from 15.5% to 9.5%. The health system is also using virtual specialty consults to enhance care in rural hospitals, cutting unnecessary transfers by 85% and enabling more patients to receive quality care close to home.
Hospitals saw improved financial performance during the first four months of the year, with operating margins rising to 3.3% thanks to higher patient volumes and more efficient throughput. However, experts warn that hospitals remain financially vulnerable as non-labor expenses continue to rise.
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Pear Suite recently won the payer/provider technology track of MedCity News’ INVEST Pitch Perfect contest. The startup provides a software platform for community health workers that helps them share data, submit claims and maintain compliance.
If enacted, the GOP’s spending bill could kick more than 10 million Americans off Medicaid. Experts are worried about the major spike in uncompensated care that hospitals would have to provide — and they’re warning that this change will result in major revenue losses for hospitals, facility closures, higher premiums for commercially insured patients, and worse public health.
Heranova Lifesciences recently launched a noninvasive blood test to diagnose endometriosis. The standard diagnostic method is laparoscopy, which requires anesthesia, followed by histological confirmation. With its blood test, Heranova seeks to replace the diagnostic function of laparoscopy, thus reserving surgical intervention only for therapeutic purposes.
About six months after rolling out voice AI in its call centers, Allina Health is already seeing signs that the tool is doing a good job of improving the patient experience. The technology is reducing patients’ average call times by 5-10 seconds, and 80% of calls are now answered in 45 seconds or less.
Radiologists today face a surge in imaging volume and pressure to produce fast, accurate reports. Workflow optimization is about delivering the right results at the right time with less friction.
May has seen a slew of executive hires, exits and layoffs across the healthcare industry. For example, the American Medical Association and TigerConnect named new CEOs, and Google and UnitedHealth Group have seen key executives leave their roles. There were also layoffs at organizations including Devoted Health and New York-Presbyterian.
Medtronic’s move to turn its diabetes division into a separate company allows it to step away from a lower-profit, consumer-oriented segment of its business, while also giving the diabetes unit more room to focus and compete in its own crowded market.
Sanford Health has expanded its virtual care strategy to improve access for rural patients while also supporting better physician training and retention. By combining tech with a new virtual care center, the health system is seeking to deliver more consistent care and address workforce shortages across the Midwest.
The current prior authorization process in U.S. healthcare constitutes a crisis, according to Jesse Ehrenfeld, immediate past president of the American Medical Association. Prior authorization is wasting clinicians’ time, delaying care and deepening public distrust — yet, payers show little urgency in fixing this problem, he said.
Who accredits health plans for mental health parity compliance? Learn about the only organization that offers this program to ensure your members get equitable care.
Inaccurate provider data is creating a hidden crisis in healthcare by delaying care and driving up costs for both patients and health plans, according to CAQH CEO Sarah Ahmad. Her organization is working to address the issue by improving how provider data is collected and verified on the front end.
Healthcare experts shared key principles that are guiding health system strategy during a panel at MedCity News’ INVEST conference. These leaders believe in flexible, patient-centered engagement strategies, emphasize clinical value as the benchmark for adopting technology, and champion collaboration to scale solutions that deliver proven results.
Providers need a revenue cycle management platform that is more affordable and accurate, said Jeremy Delinsky, CEO of Smarter Technologies, during MedCity News’ INVEST conference. New Mountain Capital formed Smarter Technologies this week by combining three separate platforms it had already acquired.
To scale clinical AI, vendors must design tools that feel natural and personalized to each doctor — otherwise, clinicians won’t use them, said Heidi Health CEO Tom Kelly. In the crowded AI scribe market, he believes that clinician adoption rates, not flashy integration or deployment speeds, are the true measure of success.
Ensuring buy-in from end users is critical to hospitals’ AI success. To achieve buy-in, hospitals should start by adopting AI tools that address the problems that physicians and nurses have identified as most important to them, said Rohit Chandra, chief digital officer at Cleveland Clinic.